"Then it's my turn next. No objections, right~"
TURN.3
"My turn, I draw~ Ah…"
Looking at the card he had just drawn, Jaden fell silent.
"Standby Phase, I randomly discard four cards from my hand…"
With a speechless expression, Jaden casually tossed four cards from his hand.
"Jaden actually didn't draw Mystical Space Typhoon or Emergency Provisions… I must still be dreaming."
Dressed head to toe like a bucket, Youmi walked out from his dorm and stood beside Chazz, who was dressed as XYZ-Dragon Cannon, and Bastion, who was dressed as Amazoness Tiger.
"It really is surprising. But based on my understanding of Jaden, there's a good chance those four cards he discarded weren't bad at all."
Bastion nodded and made his judgment.
[Elemental HERO Escuridao, ATK: 2700 → 2800]
Seeing the dark power around Escuridao grow even stronger, Alexis immediately understood what had happened. "Escuridao's Attack increased… I see, one of the cards sent to the Graveyard was an Elemental HERO, wasn't it?"
"I activate Pot of Greed from my hand! I draw two cards from my Deck~"
"Wow, I can't believe it survived even in this situation. That's some good luck."
Jaden cheerfully drew two cards from his Deck, looking nothing like someone who had just discarded four valuable cards.
"Coming from you, that doesn't feel like good luck at all. It just makes me want to punch you, Jaden."
Alexis relaxed the fist she had unconsciously clenched.
"That kind of thing happens all the time. I've always felt like my luck's pretty good."
"Next, I Normal Summon Elemental HERO Blazeman. Then I activate its effect, sending Elemental HERO Shadow Mist from my Deck to the Graveyard."
"Blazeman becomes the same Attribute and has the same Attack and Defense, and until the end of the turn, I can't Special Summon monsters except Fusion Monsters."
[Elemental HERO Escuridao, ATK: 2800 → 2900]
"So you're loading the Graveyard… does that mean the card in your hand is Miracle Fusion?"
Jaden shook his head.
"That'd be nice, but unfortunately it's not. Shadow Mist's effect activates. When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can add one HERO monster other than itself from my Deck to my hand. I choose Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier."
Although he hadn't gotten a transformation-related card, Shadow Mist was still closely tied to HERO strategies.
With that in mind, Jaden decided to add it to his Deck.
"Liquid Soldier? If I remember correctly, that card's effect when used as Fusion Material… could it be—"
Responding to Alexis's guess was the Polymerization in Jaden's hand.
"The Fusion Materials are an Elemental HERO monster and a WATER monster. I fuse Liquid Soldier from my hand with Blazeman on the field to Fusion Summon the Hero who freezes the world—Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!"
Clad in white armor and wielding the power of ice, the Elemental HERO stepped across frozen ground and appeared beside Jaden, matching his cosplay outfit perfectly.
"Liquid Soldier's effect activates. I draw two cards, then discard one."
Jaden replenished his hand slightly, then discarded one card.
[Elemental HERO Escuridao, ATK: 2900 → 3200]
"Now I enter the Battle Phase! Elemental HERO Absolute Zero attacks Cyber Angel Izana with 2500 Attack!"
"Charging straight in… is that the effect? But I have two Machine Angel Rituals in my Graveyard… even if you attack, it'll just end in mutual destruction!"
Alexis consecutively banished two Machine Angel Rituals from her Graveyard, separately preventing battle destruction and effect destruction.
[Elemental HERO Escuridao, ATK: 3200 → 3300]
"Escuridao with 3300 Attack attacks Choju of the Trillion Hands!"
[Alexis, LP: 2400 → 700]
"After that, I Set one card. Turn end."
TURN.4
"I thought I was about to get totally turned around there. My turn, I draw."
After drawing a card, Alexis felt that this duel might be ending right here.
"Standby Phase. Mirage of Nightmare's effect—I draw cards until I have four cards in my hand."
Jaden once again replenished his hand to four cards, but the situation could only be described as dangerous for him.
"I Tribute Cyber Angel Izana on the field to Tribute Summon the Choju of the Trillion Hands I just drew. I activate Choju's effect to add one Ritual Monster and one Ritual Spell from my Deck to my hand."
"I chain Vennu, Bright Bird of Divinity's effect to add Cyber Angel Idaten from my Graveyard to my hand. Choju's effect adds Cyber Angel Dakini and Machine Angel Ritual to my hand."
After recovering one card and gaining two more, Alexis immediately activated them.
"I activate Machine Angel Ritual. I Tribute Cyber Angel Idaten and Cyber Angel Natasha from my hand to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Dakini!"
From within sacred flames emerged Dakini, wielding three weapons with four arms. With a single swing, a massive crater opened beneath Escuridao.
"Dakini's effect activates. Jaden, you must send one monster you control to the Graveyard! And chained to that, Idaten's effect— all my Ritual Monsters gain 1000 Attack and Defense!"
Jaden sent his Escuridao to the Graveyard, leaving only one monster on his field.
"Then the Battle Phase. Choju of the Trillion Hands attacks you directly If you can use a face-down card, feel free to flip it"
Jaden immediately pressed his Duel Disk. "I flip my face-down card. Continuous Trap Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light! Once per attack declaration, I pay 1000 LP to negate that attack!"
[Jaden, LP: 4000 → 3000]
In this way, Jaden blocked three consecutive attacks, reducing his Life Points to 1000.
[Jaden, LP: 3000 → 2000 → 1000]
"I can't believe it…"
Alexis glanced at her set Counter Gate, which so far had never found a timing to activate.
"I end my turn like this!"
TURN.5
"This might be my last draw. My turn, I draw—"
Jaden swept his right hand back in a perfect arc. His hand went up to five cards, but since he still hadn't drawn Mystical Space Typhoon or Emergency Provisions, he discarded four cards again.
"I… I Set one card and end my turn… I wanted to show you my newest Heroes, Alexis, but I didn't expect things to end up like this."
With a helpless motion, Jaden slapped a card onto the field and declared the end of his turn.
TURN.6
"Looks like Mirage of Nightmare really isn't a card you can just activate recklessly, Jaden. My turn, I draw~"
The unease in her heart finally eased. After drawing a card, Alexis declared that she was entering the Battle Phase.
"I'll finish this with Cyber Angel Dakini~ That was a really enjoyable duel, wasn't it?"
Jaden nodded, then silently flipped his face-down card.
"I activate the Normal Trap Magical Explosion. This card can only be activated if I have 0 cards in my hand. Inflict damage to my opponent equal to the number of Spell Cards in my Graveyard ×200."
Behind Jaden, two massive Polymerizations fell down, along with one Pot of Greed and four face-down cards.
"Those four cards… don't tell me—!"
"Cards sent to the Graveyard by Mirage of Nightmare's effect, twice in total. They are—"
One by one, the four cards were revealed:
H - Heated Heart
E - Emergency Call
R - Righteous Justice
O - Oversoul
"Alexis, your LP is 700. There are seven Spell Cards here in total, so the damage is 1400!"
[Alexis, LP: 700 → 0]
"Somehow… it feels like some pretty unpleasant memories are about to resurface…"
Atticus subconsciously glanced to the side at Youmi, recalling the memory of when he was Nightshroud—when he thought victory was already assured, only to be electroshocked by Card Destruction.
Feeling a little guilty under Atticus's gaze, Youmi waved awkwardly at him.
Then, as a glint of light flickered through his red eyes, he noticed something that caught his attention.
A man wearing a white robe with yellow trim, a hood over his head, and a monocle on his face stood at a distance, observing the duel.
After a moment, it seemed his gaze met Youmi's.
The man shook a spellbook in his hand—clearly not a cosplay prop—and pointed toward a nearby duel field.
After a brief moment of thought, Youmi put his helmet back on—the one he had taken off earlier to get some air—and walked over.
"I didn't expect it to be you, you scumbag. You're a Duel Spirit, yet you show up here… What exactly is your objective?"
Walking together to a duel field that was still unused for the moment, Youmi picked up Fleurdelis's sword and pointed it at the familiar figure before him.
For some reason, Youmi was also able to wield all three divine artifacts of sword, armor, and shield at the same time, even though in this world duels were the primary way to resolve most matters.
"Oh my, oh my. I just saw some cute girls over here and thought I'd look for a partner, that's all."
"And besides, I am acting under someone else's commission—there's no reason for me to abandon my task and just wander around this world."
The man removed his hood, revealing hair streaked with green and white.
"Honestly, the girl on your side isn't bad either."
"Even that kid said you're not bad at all… Since I've got a mission to handle, I decided to come and make contact with you myself~"
Tossing aside the spellbook, the man took out a Duel Disk and fastened it to his arm.
"You bastard… Being a scumbag isn't enough, you even…?"
Youmi removed his gauntlet and put on his Duel Disk. He had already equipped the signal receiver beforehand. Even though the helmet was a bit cramped, it was still perfectly usable for a duel.
"Then, before we duel, let me ask you one thing. The next 'Seven Stars'… it's you, isn't it, Aleister the Invoker?"
...
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